Monday, February 14, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg's plane was last small plane to land at LGA as Christmas blizzard intensified.

Mayor Bloomberg apparently was in Bermuda as the Christmas blizzard approached, and one of his corporate planes was the last small plane to land at LaGuardia Airport as the storm intensified.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that a jet belonging to Bloomberg Services took off for Bermuda on Christmas morning and returned to New York just before 3 p.m. on Dec. 26.

The mayor's jet was the last private plane to land at La Guardia that day as the historic blizzard started to pound the city, according to Federal Aviation Administration records obtained by the Journal.

Bloomberg appeared at a storm-related press conference that afternoon. He was later harshly criticized for the city's dismal failure to deal with the massive storm.

The billionaire mayor, who chafes at reports of his jet-set ways, often takes weekend trips on his fleet of private jets, but rarely tells reporters where he goes.

His planes flew to Bermuda, where Bloomberg owns a home, 16 times last year, according to FAA records.

The records do not include passenger lists, so it cannot be determined for certain if Bloomberg was personally on board any of the flights, including the Christmas weekend one.